CuriousKay

Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2019
Messages
27
Hi all


I’d love some feedback about my labs in relation to my symptoms, and also suggestions for how I can improve. I’ve included US results from October and European results from Nov 2022.

Note: When converted from metric to imperial, there are likely some differences due to an increase of the one medication I took in response to a flareup on the November results.


Background:
I’m turning 40, I’m 5’3”, 129lbs and under 20% body fat. I have been losing weight (mostly fat) steadily all year without restricting or dieting. I’ve been eating Peaty for about 4 years now.

I still have a hard time with what I consider to be unsightly/fluffy/lumpy fat, loose/sagging skin and stretch marks. I have okay muscle tone underneath the loose stuff, but would like more. I would love to get rid of the loose stuff/firm up.

I also struggle with fatigue and somewhat slow recovery, so can’t train as hard or frequent as I used to. Sometimes I also get muscle spasms that prevent me from living/training normally.

I’ve been struggling with low energy levels all fall. I live in the Nordic countries, so that has been rough too. I spend a few months over a few trips back in California each year, though.

I have a chronic condition (Hidradentits Suppurativa) that has been flaring up quite a bit lately, after having been quite calm for a few years. I have had over 100 surgical procedures, and used to have Stage 3, but now I’m at Stage 1. I know HS it is linked to hypothyroidism, and possibly to the added DHEA I’ve been taking lately. I’ve been subclinical hypothyroid for many years, and have attempted fixing this with Peaty eating and supplementation.

I developed a new chronic skin condition over night after the second vid-vax. I’m not anti-vax, but chose to take it for other extremely important reasons, so please don’t fight in the comments about that. I respect your beliefs, but there’s nothing I can do about the past and I’m here to get help. Many of these things existed before the pandemic.

I’m just informing that I woke up to papulopustular rosacea after my second vax in May last year that I was treated with antibiotics for 6 months before they finally put me on a mini-dose of isotretinoin. I’m still on it. I love the way my skin looks when I’m on it.

Took a break for 8 weeks this summer, didn’t like what happened, skin started showing sign of creating more cysts in my face. Iso doubles for my HS, so the doctors and I think I should stay on it until things seem more under control.

Just came back from skiing in the Alps at around 9000ft, and I got very sick for a day. Digestion malfunctioned, constipated followed by vomiting and diarrhoea. Nausea and general feelings of un-wellness. Legs gave in after a few hrs of skiing followed by lunch.

My GP and Dermatologist acknowledge the elevated liver enzymes and inflammation markers as being part of the isotretinoin treatment, but don’t know what to do with my low T4.

I don’t know what to do to treat the out of range low ferritin, from what I understand is related to/caused by hypothyroidism which I have failed at treating properly myself.
I have read some place that the Iso could also be affecting inflammation and thyroid levels, but with the severity of my conditions, which other treatments have failed to heal, I'm not sure what else to do.


Supplements and meds:
Isotretinoin - 20mg 3-4x a week for HS and PR (increased short time due to HS flareup shortly before the November labs were run).
Vyvanse - 50mg for ADHD
Diphenhydramine - 25 mg for sleep (cycled off it for the month of Oct and used THC instead, back on this now)
CortiNon - 4 drops (started this September), backed down to 1 drop two weeks ago to see if that would stop the HS flareups that have been happening more frequently lately. So far so good.
Progestene 3-6 drops depending on where in my cycle and how much CortiNon that day (I’ve been on this since 2018)
StressNon - 12 drops (started in October)
Vit D - 1 drop from Now Foods per day
Vit K - 2 drops from Health Natura
Niacinemide - approx 500mg per day, but a bit less consistently
Magnesium - approx 800mg
Collagen - Up to 50 mg/day on average

Note: Earlier this year I tried 25mcg Cynomel/Liothyrinine split into 4 doses per day, but ended up being ravenous and wired, couldn’t stop eating and didn’t function well.


Thank you for you time and feedback!
 

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Energizer

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
611
Not sure about the lab stuff, but I would urge you to re-consider the Vyvanse (you could have strong coffee instead if you need something to help you focus), that is going to hamper your healing from stress, imo. I have taken all prescription amphetamines under the sun (also diagnosed with ADHD), and none of them are safe to take in the long-run, they greatly increase the stress hormones and are neurotoxic. The short-term boost you get in attention is offset by the long-term damage they do. Do your own research, don't trust authority, or me for that matter. Coffee subjects perform as well as amphetamine users in attention tests. Since Big Pharma cannot patent coffee they would never prescribe it for ADHD even though it also has a ton of nutrients, which the attention-addled brain likely lacks, unlike amphetamines which offer no nutritional value.
Note: Earlier this year I tried 25mcg Cynomel/Liothyrinine split into 4 doses per day, but ended up being ravenous and wired, couldn’t stop eating and didn’t function well
You might benefit from trying a low dose, such as 1/8th of a Cynoplus (has T3 and T4) and going from there based on your symptoms gradually increasing the dose over several months. A lot of people find they need not only T3 but T4 as T3 has a very short half-life. I myself tried doing pure T3 and I still had high estrogen symptoms and do much better on both T3 and T4.

I also struggle with fatigue and somewhat slow recovery, so can’t train as hard or frequent as I used to. Sometimes I also get muscle spasms that prevent me from living/training normally.
I believe in the principle of listening to your body. If it tells you to rest, then rest. I had to cut down on exercise myself as I usually over did it and would burn myself out (gave myself a hernia from heavy weightlifting). I now just do walking whenever I feel like it and light hikes. It has helped with losing weight when I was not losing much weight when exercising so much, because I would overdo it and overtrain. I'm not saying a person shouldn't exercise, but it can be helpful to take it easy too sometimes. Aspirin can help with lowering estrogen and stress hormones too. I take 1/8th tsp aspirin crystals morning and night with Vit K.

Peat suggests high dose topical progesterone can help with stretch marks.

I hope this was helpful, I tried my best to be helpful but I am not a woman so my input will be skewed.

If you have the money, you might consider seeing Benedicte Lerche, she does online health/thyroid coaching and can help interpret your labs: Video Counseling · Online Thyroid Specialist

Tung CS, Chang ST, Huang CL, Huang NK. The neurotoxic mechanisms of amphetamine: Step by step for striatal dopamine depletion. Neurosci Lett. 2017 Feb 3;639:185-191. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.01.002. Epub 2017 Jan 6. PMID: 28065841. Moratalla R, Khairnar A, Simola N, Granado N, García-Montes JR, Porceddu PF, Tizabi Y, Costa G, Morelli M. Amphetamine-related drugs neurotoxicity in humans and in experimental animals: Main mechanisms. Prog Neurobiol. 2017 Aug;155:149-170. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2015.09.011. Epub 2015 Oct 9. PMID: 26455459. Garfinkel BD, Webster CD, Sloman L. Responses to methylphenidate and varied doses of caffeine in children with attention deficit disorder. Can J Psychiatry. 1981 Oct;26(6):395-401. doi: 10.1177/070674378102600602. PMID: 7028238.
 
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redsun

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Messages
3,013
Hi all


I’d love some feedback about my labs in relation to my symptoms, and also suggestions for how I can improve. I’ve included US results from October and European results from Nov 2022.

Note: When converted from metric to imperial, there are likely some differences due to an increase of the one medication I took in response to a flareup on the November results.


Background:
I’m turning 40, I’m 5’3”, 129lbs and under 20% body fat. I have been losing weight (mostly fat) steadily all year without restricting or dieting. I’ve been eating Peaty for about 4 years now.

I still have a hard time with what I consider to be unsightly/fluffy/lumpy fat, loose/sagging skin and stretch marks. I have okay muscle tone underneath the loose stuff, but would like more. I would love to get rid of the loose stuff/firm up.

I also struggle with fatigue and somewhat slow recovery, so can’t train as hard or frequent as I used to. Sometimes I also get muscle spasms that prevent me from living/training normally.

I’ve been struggling with low energy levels all fall. I live in the Nordic countries, so that has been rough too. I spend a few months over a few trips back in California each year, though.

I have a chronic condition (Hidradentits Suppurativa) that has been flaring up quite a bit lately, after having been quite calm for a few years. I have had over 100 surgical procedures, and used to have Stage 3, but now I’m at Stage 1. I know HS it is linked to hypothyroidism, and possibly to the added DHEA I’ve been taking lately. I’ve been subclinical hypothyroid for many years, and have attempted fixing this with Peaty eating and supplementation.

I developed a new chronic skin condition over night after the second vid-vax. I’m not anti-vax, but chose to take it for other extremely important reasons, so please don’t fight in the comments about that. I respect your beliefs, but there’s nothing I can do about the past and I’m here to get help. Many of these things existed before the pandemic.

I’m just informing that I woke up to papulopustular rosacea after my second vax in May last year that I was treated with antibiotics for 6 months before they finally put me on a mini-dose of isotretinoin. I’m still on it. I love the way my skin looks when I’m on it.

Took a break for 8 weeks this summer, didn’t like what happened, skin started showing sign of creating more cysts in my face. Iso doubles for my HS, so the doctors and I think I should stay on it until things seem more under control.

Just came back from skiing in the Alps at around 9000ft, and I got very sick for a day. Digestion malfunctioned, constipated followed by vomiting and diarrhoea. Nausea and general feelings of un-wellness. Legs gave in after a few hrs of skiing followed by lunch.

My GP and Dermatologist acknowledge the elevated liver enzymes and inflammation markers as being part of the isotretinoin treatment, but don’t know what to do with my low T4.

I don’t know what to do to treat the out of range low ferritin, from what I understand is related to/caused by hypothyroidism which I have failed at treating properly myself.
I have read some place that the Iso could also be affecting inflammation and thyroid levels, but with the severity of my conditions, which other treatments have failed to heal, I'm not sure what else to do.


Supplements and meds:
Isotretinoin - 20mg 3-4x a week for HS and PR (increased short time due to HS flareup shortly before the November labs were run).
Vyvanse - 50mg for ADHD
Diphenhydramine - 25 mg for sleep (cycled off it for the month of Oct and used THC instead, back on this now)
CortiNon - 4 drops (started this September), backed down to 1 drop two weeks ago to see if that would stop the HS flareups that have been happening more frequently lately. So far so good.
Progestene 3-6 drops depending on where in my cycle and how much CortiNon that day (I’ve been on this since 2018)
StressNon - 12 drops (started in October)
Vit D - 1 drop from Now Foods per day
Vit K - 2 drops from Health Natura
Niacinemide - approx 500mg per day, but a bit less consistently
Magnesium - approx 800mg
Collagen - Up to 50 mg/day on average

Note: Earlier this year I tried 25mcg Cynomel/Liothyrinine split into 4 doses per day, but ended up being ravenous and wired, couldn’t stop eating and didn’t function well.


Thank you for you time and feedback!
Hemoglobin and hematocrit are borderline low. Your RBC count is in range but also borderline low. Neutrophils are low and you have high platelets and ferritin is low. All suggesting you need iron. Taking iron will help your fatigue. 50mg a day of iron glycinate is a good start. Thorne has a good 25mg iron glycinate supplement. If you can take on an empty stomach that would be better absorbed. For example, in the morning when you wake up. If not, just take it in the morning preferably with a meal that doesnt have dairy to maximize absorption. Being anemic (or in your case very close to anemic) will make you more susceptible to altitude sickness.

Never take that much magnesium. It will cause severe fatigue in some people there is no need for that much and usually you should get plenty of Mg from the diet so you don't need to supplement. There was one particular individual who was taking similar doses which caused severe fatigue and hypersomnia that went away once he stopped Mg. All these are vitamins and supplements you are taking are not going to do much of anything or they will cause problems it would be better for you just to stop taking them.

Focus on nutrient dense foods. Red meats for zinc which will also help your skin, a few eggs everyday, a mix of starch and sugars from fruits for carbs, 2 servings of dairy a day at most is all that is needed, and eat anything else you like to. Oysters once a week is also a good idea if available as well as seafood once or twice a week. Do this and start taking iron and your fatigue should improve quickly.
 
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